A New Life: Chapter 11: Now You Know
by betterthings89
Summary: This saga is about the lives of the children of Lilly&Oliver and their friends children too. This chapter is about growing up, secrets revealed and a new friendship. Please leave reviews!


_* I hope you like this! __**Please leave reviews**__!_

**A New Life**

**-Chapter 11: Now You Know–**

It was a dark summer evening in Malibu. Jimmy was running down the beach for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. It was something he did to relax himself when he had a lot on his mind. Running and weightlifting were his two big stress relievers; that and being with his girlfriend. But even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, sometimes Alice was a contributor to his stress. It was the stress of making sure he said the right things at the right times. She told him he never seemed to need to work at that. But the truth was it was hard work for him. But he did it happily. There was also the stress of being there for her when she was in a bad mood or when she was sad. He also had to work at this a lot. But he was more than certain he wouldn't let her down in any circumstance.

But the real stress at this moment wasn't from Alice or his family. It was from all of the expectations he would need to start to satisfy. He was at the age now where he needed money and mowing lawns on his street wasn't doing the trick. He had decided to get a job. He could only work part time because of his age but that was sufficient for his needs. And he did have the need for more spending money at the moment. He had a girlfriend he needed money to spend on. He didn't mind this at all. When he spent money on Alice it didn't feel like a burden at all, in fact it felt like the right thing to do. He had things he wanted to buy for himself and he didn't want to keep asking his parents for money he knew they wouldn't give him. He was also getting ready to learn how to drive. And he knew how difficult driving lessons with his father where going to be. But it meant more independence in the near future, so he was willing to suffer through it. He was getting his learners' permit tomorrow, and then he had to get enough driving training before he turned sixteen to qualify for the driving test to get his drivers' license. He was looking forward to it. But not necessarily having to put up with his dad 'passenger seat driving'.

Jimmy ran down the beach forcibly. It was much easier than it had been when he first developed the habit, so he now had to run much longer to get the same feeling of success and the same amount of stress relief. He ran through the dry heat without a shirt on, beads of sweat on the end of his short buzzed hair. He was thin and had a considerably muscular body. But he never stopped to think about that. It was never something that really meant anything to him. The only result of his exercise that meant anything to him was the result of his level-headedness and health. He knew it made him look good but it was always in the back of his mind that if he were ever to relax his focus on exercise he would go back to that porky, hot-headed boy he used to be. But he didn't let this fear consume him or become an obsession. He just kept it in the back of his mind as a reminder of what he had gained and what he had left behind, hopefully forever.

Tomorrow was his fifteenth birthday. He knew Sam and Alice and his family where planning something. He didn't know what, so it would still be easy enough for him to be surprised. When he arrived home he stopped at the door and picked up the towel he had left for himself and wiped the sweat off of himself. Then he pulled the undershirt, which had been next to the towel, over his head and down to his waist. He came inside to see Rose and Michael sitting on the couch across from Alice who was sitting in an arm chair.

"We get it Jimmy, you love you body. But you don't hafta show up shirtless in front of us." Rose complained. "One, I don't love my body…Well I mean I don't have an oversized ego like that. Two, I went running and when I go running I sweat. So I figured I'd go without a shirt. Besides if I ran with a shirt on you'd just give me a hard time for coming back in a sweat stained shirt." Jimmy said. Rose said nothing because she knew he was right and there was nothing she could come up with for a good comeback. "Well I think he looks good." Alice said squeezing the front of his bulging right bicep muscle. "We know…we know." Rose said. "Well I think _you_ look _great_." Jimmy said running his hand from the small of her back upwards to her shoulder blades, pulling her in for a small kiss on the lips. Michael cringed a little bit, but said nothing. They were all, for the most part, used to seeing Jimmy kissing Alice in front of them. He had become more discreet about it lately and it was also less often that it happened. Jimmy and Alice had decided to become more of a spoken couple and less physical.

"Listen Jimmy I gotta go. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." Alice said, disguising a grin fairly unsuccessfully. "Yeah you will." Jimmy said, not disguising his grin at all. She walked out of the door and was gone. But Jimmy just stood there grinning for several minutes. This was one thing he shared with his father, awkwardness when thinking about girls, but not nearly to the same extent. Jimmy merely tended to hold onto a smile for awkward lengths of time. "Jimmy…snap out of it!" Michael said waving his hand in front of Jimmy's face. "Sorry." Jimmy said simply. He sat down in the chair facing away from the front door, but then he looked over at the chair Alice had been sitting in and quickly moved over to it. "So… any big plans for tomorrow?" Jimmy asked. "Nope, just the usual." Rose said. "Nothing to do with my birthday?" Jimmy asked. "Well it's not much of a surprise if we tell you, is it?" Michael said. "Michael! Quiet!" Rose scolded through clenched teeth. Michael silenced himself. "Okay then. See ya' tomorrow." Jimmy chuckled.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Jimmy snapped awake to the sound of this being shouted. He was only partly awake so he didn't say anything. "Happy Birthday Jimmy!" His brother and sister shouted again. "Huh, yeah." He mumbled scratching his stomach lazily. Then he snapped wide awake. "Woh." He exclaimed pulling his pajama shirt down abruptly. "That was gross…" Rose said. "Sorry, you guys snuck up on me… I thought I was dreaming." Jimmy said. "So you took the time to rub your stomach? Why do you hafta be such a _boy_ all the time?" Rose asked. "Sorry, I was born that way. What's going on? What time is it?" Jimmy asked, sitting up in his bed. "It's your birthday." Michael said. "I know that little bro. But what're you guys doing?" Jimmy asked. "Getting you up so you can come down for breakfast." Rose answered.

On the way down the stairs he could already smell the aroma of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. When he got there he was greeted by a pleasant but not totally unexpected surprise. "Scrambled eggs and French toast, my favorite of course." He said. "Happy birthday Jimmy!" his mother said hugging him warmly. "How's it feel big guy?" his father asked. "The same as it did yesterday… I mean great!" Jimmy said trying to sound enthusiastic. It wasn't that he wasn't excited for his birthday. There were so many things that excited him about this day. He was still only partly awake, so it was hard for him to act excited at the moment.

"Well, later on today we'll go and get your learners' permit, then we can start driving lessons. Won't that be great?" Oliver asked his son. "Yeah, can't wait!" Jimmy said, his enthusiasm starting to become more apparent.

"I hafta go take care of something; I'll be back in a little while." Lilly said. "Okay." Oliver replied. He had no idea what it was she was doing, but he figured it must have been something she'd forgotten about for Jimmy's birthday. Jimmy finished his breakfast and sat down on the couch next to his brother. "So…what's up with you two?" Jimmy asked. "You wanna know… okay… there's this really cute boy at school named Ben and …" Rose said. "Okay. Not quite what I meant. Michael how 'bout you?" Jimmy asked. "I'm gonna go play some baseball with Robbie and Susan and Charlie tomorrow." Michael said. Charlie was a new friend that Michael had made during his last visit to the hospital. Charlie had been part of Michael's group of friends ever since then.

It got to be about noon when Jimmy's father said "Ready? We're gonna go down to the DMV." Jimmy was out the door before Oliver even finished the sentence. "I guess that answers that question." Oliver said. When they got there it seemed like a million people where there waiting in line. "This could take a while so don't psych yourself out too much." Oliver told Jimmy. "Umm dad… nobody says 'psych yourself out' anymore." Jimmy said. "Ok, well then don't get too nervous." Oliver said. They sat there patiently waiting to be called up for the next hour. Jimmy filled out the form he had been given on the way in. When Jimmy's number was called he jumped up and made a bee-line to the counter. His father caught up with him seconds later. They women behind the counter read the form. "Oken, James Oliver. Age fifteen, as of today. Height: five feet and seven and one half inches. Weight: one hundred forty-five pounds. Hair: black. Eyes: blue. Is all of this information correct?" She asked. "Yes." Jimmy said shakily. He was very nervous at this point.

"All right young man. You must be very excited. Big day for you, huh?" The woman asked. Jimmy gave his father a funny look as if he were saying _"This lady is acting like I'm a little kid."_ "Yeah, I guess so." Jimmy said. "You guess so? Well if that's how you feel then I guess you don't really want your leaners' permit that badly." She said. Jimmy didn't move a muscle. He was fairly certain this was supposed to be funny, at least to adults. "Oh, don't give me that look, relax kid it was a joke." She said. "Okay I need to test you vision. Put your face against the scanner where it shows you to." She said. He did as he was told. A series of bright lights flashed into his eyes. "Okay, all done. Perfect vision in both eyes. You can go over there and take the test. Then we'll get your picture and print your permit." She said. Jimmy walked over to a booth to the right and stepped up to a touch sensitive screen and entered his name. After ten minutes he came back over to the desk. The women came lazily over to him and said "Alright you passed." All of the nervousness had left him in this instance. "Ok stand on the yellow line and look at the camera… okay great. Wait a minute and I'll bring you your permit." She said. She came back several minutes later and handed him a card. "There you are, have a nice day." She said. He took the glossy card. It looked just like a driver's license except everything was printed vertically instead of horizontally.

When they got out into the parking lot they paused for a moment. Oliver threw something to Jimmy. Jimmy looked into his hands to see what he'd caught. "Why'd you throw me your keys?" Jimmy asked, bewildered. "You're driving home." Oliver said. "Are you nuts?" Jimmy asked. "Well my last name is Oken. But don't you want to?" Oliver asked. "Yeah! I just didn't think you'd want me to… yet." Jimmy said. "What good is a learner's permit if you're not permitted to learn?" Oliver said. "Okay, but mom'll lose it when she finds out." Jimmy said. "That's why we're not gonna tell her. Okay?" Oliver said. They got in the car. Jimmy started to drive them home. "Alright focus a little more on keeping the car in the center of the lane." Oliver said a little tensely. They were passing a bank when Oliver noticed someone in the parking lot that caught his eye. It was a woman with a man, they were talking and laughing and smiling at each other. "Lilly?" Oliver said out loud, puzzled. "Yeah that's mom." Jimmy said. Oliver looked forward again. "Jimmy eyes front!" Oliver shouted. Jimmy sprang to attention and quickly steered himself back to where he needed to be in the lane. "Sorry." Jimmy said. "It's okay. Just don't let it happen again." Oliver said.

When they got home Jimmy's mother still wasn't there. But she came rushing in about fifteen minutes later. "Well Jimmy we decided you where too old for a party with games and stuff." Lilly said. "I haven't had one of those since I was ten." Jimmy responded. "…So I just called some of your friends and they're gonna get together with you for dinner tonight." Lilly said with a smile. "Sounds cool, thanks mom." Jimmy said.

That afternoon he sat around the living room while his family and the Stewarts gave him birthday presents. "Wow Michael a keychain…ookay…oh it's one of those one's if you lose it it's got a locator so you can find it with your cell phone. Cool! Thanks little bro." Jimmy said patting Michael on the back. "Here, this one's from me." Rose said holding out her present. Jimmy opened it and tossed the wrapping paper onto the table in front of him. "A book. _'How Boys Can Impress Girls without Looking Stupid'. _Very classy of you little sis. Thanks." He said, giving her a slight smile.

"We adults all decided to come together and got you one thing." Jackson said. He placed an envelope in Jimmy's hand. He opened it, it was a check. "Three hundred dollars. You guys know I got a job right?" Jimmy asked. "Not that I don't appreciate this." He finished. "Yeah. What's the job?" Marlene asked. "I'm working over at Malibu General Hospital helping file patient records in the computer database." Jimmy answered. "Sounds like fun." Jackson said. "You have no idea." Jimmy replied very sarcastically. "Well at least you get to see lots of medical stuff, right?" Susan asked. "Sometimes. But mostly it's just really ordinary patients that pass by where I am." Jimmy said. "But working there'll help you out down the road, right?" Miley asked. "That's true. They told me they'd help me get into training programs. I think I might take them up on that when it's open for me. We've been in and out of the hospital a lot the last few years. I think I'm really starting to get interested in that kinda stuff." Jimmy said. "So what are they paying you?" Jackson asked. "It's fifteen dollars an hour." Jimmy said. "Wow. Times have changed. When I worked for Rico he only paid me seven an hour. Then again, you do have a better job than selling drinks and year old hot dogs." Oliver said. "Seven? When I worked for him, Rico only paid me six fifty! No fair!" Jackson exclaimed. "Ya'll quit your belly-achin'." Miley said.

Later that day Jimmy met up with his friends at a restaurant just off of the pier. When they were seated Jimmy sat down next to Alice. Sam sat down with his girlfriend Emily. They had been dating for several months, since Sam had asked her out on the spur of the moment. Several of his other, less close, friends from school sat around the table.

"So did your family get you anything good this year?" Sam asked. "Sure. I guess. I got a keychain from my brother, a book from my sister, and money from my parents and their friends." Jimmy replied. "Did you do the really big thing today?" Alice asked. "You mean getting my learner's permit? Yeah I did." Jimmy said. "Okay, then let's see it." Sam said. Jimmy pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and extracted his new learner's permit. He passed it over to Sam. "Nice face you made." He said laughing. "It's not any worse than the one you made Sammy. Why don't you show them yours?" Emily said. Sam was about a month older than Jimmy so he had already gotten his learner's permit. "Fine. But don't laugh too hard." Sam said passing over his permit along with Jimmy's. "Hah. Nice one man." Jimmy said. "What? I had something in my eye." Sam said. In the picture Sam was making a squinting look with his eyes. "Don't sweat it you guys I think everybody's pictures comes out weird. Check out mine." Chris, a friend of Jimmy's from the track team, said, tossing his learner's permit over to Jimmy and Sam. "Oh yeah…that's definitely a good one Chris." Jimmy said. Chris' picture looked like he was getting ready to sneeze. "Well I have the best one of all you guys." Julie, a friend of Jimmy and Alice from the debate group, said handing her permit over. "Nice one Julie. Was it windy out or something?" Alice asked. "Must've been. That's horrible." Julie said. In her picture her hair was so frizzy she looked almost comical.

"Michael pass the ball." Charlie shouted across the field at Sea View Middle School. It was a hot Thursday afternoon, so they where all dressed in shorts and short sleeved shirts. When Michael pitched the baseball to Charlie it whooshed through the air and slapped into Charlie's mitt. "Wow! You guys weren't kidding; Michael has a really good pitching arm." Charlie said, wincing slightly from the sting that the impact of the ball caused on his hand, even through the mitt. Michael had recently met Charlie in the hospital. But Charlie had recovered from a very different condition than Michael. Charlie had had cancer and had been free of it for several months now. His jet black hair and tan complexion had since returned.

"Let's do some real practice, okay?" Susan asked. "Alright. I'll pitch. You be at bat Charlie. And the other positions go to Susan and Robbie." Michael said. They all got into position. Michael drew back his arm and pitched the ball. Charlie's swing missed by less than an inch. "Strike one!" Susan announced. Michael's second pitch just barely made past Charlie's bat. It was so close if they hadn't known better they would have thought the bat must have made contact. "Strike two!" Susan shouted. Michael drew back his arm and pitched the ball for the third time. SMACK! Charlie had hit the ball with as much force as he could. It went sailing out to the far end of the field and bounced off of the wall, landing in the sand below. But before it had made it even half way there Charlie had dropped the bat and begun running the basses. He had made it all the way to third base before Michael made it back to the diamond part of the field. He was right behind Charlie when he was half way to home plate. Charlie wanted to make the home run very badly. He felt that somehow it would help him prove himself worthy to his new friends. He felt this way even though none of them had really given him the impression that he needed to prove himself to them. It was really a boy thing to need to prove himself to new friends.

Charlie knew Michael was inches behind him so he took a dive on the ground toward the plate. He slid in and tagged the plate with his hand. A split second later, Michael tagged him on the backside with the ball. But it was too late for that. "Safe! Home Run!" Susan proclaimed. Charlie rolled over onto his back. His stomach was part way exposed from having slid on the dirt. He was very thin, even thinner than Michael, who was the thinnest of the original three. He had lost some weight off of his already thin frame from being in the hospital. His treatment had made it hard for him to eat much of anything while he was there.

Charlie jumped up with a big smile on his face. "Woo-hooo!" He exclaimed. They all took turns giving him a high five. "Way to go Charlie. You definitely have to try out with us for the school team this year. That must've stank not getting to practice and everything when you where in the hospital. You're really good, and you…ohhh… woops sorry." Robbie said. "Sorry for what?" Charlie asked, with a slightly confused look on his face. "Umm… what I said about being in the hospital…you probably don't want us talking 'bout that." Robbie said, looking down at his feet, embarrassed. "It's okay. I don't mind that." Charlie said. "It's just…I thought maybe it might make you sad or something to think about it." Robbie said. "No… It happened. It doesn't make me sad. I don't look at it like that. I try to look at it in a way that makes me happy. You know… it happened. I got better, and now it's over with. I always try to be happy." Charlie said. "It's true. He's always happy. His mom said no matter how bad it got, every day when he was there; he had a smile on… no matter what. She says he's almost too happy." Michael said. This was all true. Charlie was always a very bright mannered and happy boy, no matter what happened. "Why shouldn't I be happy? I met Michael and now I have a best friend. And now I have you guys for friends too. You guys are all great. So I'm gonna go on being happy." Charlie said with a heartwarming smile. "You're really cool Charlie." Susan said. "Yeah, man, you're cool with us!" Robbie said. This was the kind of acceptance Charlie had been hoping for.

Oliver drove up to the middle school parking lot to pick Michael and his friend up and take them home. When he got to the field he saw Lilly and a man walking in the same direction. It was the very same man he had seen her with the other day when he was in the car with Jimmy. "I thought you said you couldn't make it to pick them up? You had errands or something." Oliver said. Lilly was taken by surprise. She hadn't seen him coming. So when he spoke to her she flinched a little bit. "I…uhh...I didn't think I would… but I was… It turned out I was in the area so I decided to stop by and get them. It was too late to tell you so, sorry." Lilly said, stammering a little bit. "It's okay; I'll take them all home. You finish up what you've got left to do." Oliver said. Oliver loved Lilly more than anything in the world. And he never thought her capable of any major deceit towards him. But seeing her in public with a man he had never met before was making Oliver worry. _"It's probably nothing."_ He thought to himself. "Oh, Oliver, did you get the stuff to fix our bedroom door?" Lilly asked. "Yeah, I already have it up there. I'll work on it this weekend." Oliver said. He walked onto the field on the opposite side of the fence from the kids. "Alright you guys time to go home." He called out to them. They obediently followed him to the car. As the rode home Michael asked "Hey dad, can Charlie come over on Saturday? The rest of us are gonna do something, and we want him to too." "Of course, that sounds great." Oliver said.

On Saturday Charlie came over to go bike riding with Michael, Susan and Robbie. While they were leaving Jackson showed up with some power tools. "Robbie, make sure you're home before five for dinner. Unless you're staying overnight, then call me." Jackson told his son. He walked into the living room. "Hey, Jackson what's with all this stuff?" Lilly said pointing at the carrying cases he was holding. "Oh, I'm helping Oliver fix that door." Jackson said. "Good. He's been putting that off for a while now." Lilly said. Just then Oliver walked in. "Great, so you brought the stuff right Jackson?" Oliver asked. "Yeah, right here." Jackson said, gesturing to the things he had just put on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. "Alright let's get to it." Oliver said. "Why're you in such a big hurry Oliver? You've been really grumpy all day. What's going on?" Lilly asked. "Nothing. I just wanna get it done." Oliver said. "You weren't in such a big hurry till now. How come?" Lilly asked. "Let's go Jackson." Oliver said.

When they got upstairs to the bedroom door Jackson put his tools down. "What was that all about?" He asked. "Nothing…it's just…"Oliver said. "It's just what?" Jackson asked. "Nothing." Oliver said. "Okaay. Well the first thing we need to do is get the door off the hinges." Jackson said. When they had done that Jackson unpacked some of the power tools. "A cordless power saw? Really?" Oliver asked giving him a look. "I don't know. I just like using it." Jackson said. "We don't have anything to use it for." Oliver said. "Okay, well let's start sanding off the top." Jackson said.

They got busy rubbing the sandpaper over the top of the door to smooth it out. Oliver looked up at Jackson. "All right you wanna know what's going on?" Oliver asked. "Sure. What is it?" Jackson asked. "Well I think Lilly might…" Oliver started. But just then Rose's best friend Alex came up the stairs. "Hey Alex, how's it going?" Jackson said. "Great Mr. Stewart. Umm is Rose up here? Mrs. Oken said she might be and we were supposed to go down to the pier with some friends." Alex asked. "I don't think she is. I think you just missed her. She might still be out front. I'd check there." Oliver replied. "Okay, thanks." Alex said. But he stayed standing where he was. He stood in that spot for a few seconds which soon became thirty seconds.

"Was there something else Alex?" Oliver asked. "Umm, yeah…it's really hard for me to say." Alex said. "Well the easiest way to get something off your chest is to just let it out." Oliver said. "It's kind of a big…thing." Alex said, shifting his right foot around and looking down at his feet. "What's it about then, for starters?" Oliver asked. "Umm… it's about…ummm… about Rose." Alex said hesitantly. "What about her?" Oliver asked. "She…uhh… I…" Alex said. "Is it about the pier? Is it about school? Surfing?" Oliver asked, trying to guess. "No, nothing like that." Alex said. "Well then what _is _it about?" Oliver asked, getting a little impatient. "I think… I… I think…" Alex said. "You think what?" Oliver asked. "I think I have feelings for her." Alex said. "What kind of feelings?" Oliver asked. _"Ohh. He's making this really hard. I was hoping he'd leave it at 'feelings' and I could back out of this."_ Alex thought to himself. "Umm… I think I love her. There, now you know." Alex blurted out, with his clenched shut. He opened them slowly. "See the world's not coming to an end, that wasn't so hard. So you think you love her, huh?" Oliver said. _"I know I do, but let's just say 'think' for now." _Alex thought to himself.

"Yeah, I think so. Please don't be mad." Alex said. "I'm not mad. I'm happy for you. I'm glad she's got someone like you that has that kind of feelings for her. So what does she think of this?" Oliver asked. "Uhh… I didn't tell her. I can't tell her." Alex said. "What do you mean you can't tell her? Just practice saying it to a mirror, or an unconscious friend like I did. And before you know it you'll be ready and it'll be really easy. "You don't understand. It's not that simple." Alex said, a little frustrated. "Sure it is. Trust me you'll be glad you did it." Oliver said. "No I won't. I can't." Alex insisted. "Ok, if you're having so much trouble I help you. I'll hint at it to her and she'll figure it out." Oliver said. "Please don't!" Alex said. "Why not? She should know, shouldn't she?" Oliver asked. "No. She can't know. I don't want her to." Alex said imperatively. "Why don't you?" Oliver asked. "She…she's… she likes this other guy." Alex stammered. "So… you're her best guy friend ever. She and you go way back… to before you could walk. If you tell her you love her, she'll forget all about that other guy." Oliver said. "You don't understand. I think they both already have a thing for each other. They might have already kissed. And I don't think she'd wanna know now. If I told her she might hate me forever." Alex said. "Well I don't think she'd hate you. But…" Oliver started. "Please just don't tell her." Alex said. "Okay I won't. But remember if you ever need to talk about it, I'll be happy to talk to you." Oliver said. "Thanks. But please don't tell her." Alex said as he made his way to the landing of the stairs. "Okay, see ya." Oliver said.

"Wow that was awkward." Jackson said. "Yeah, a little. But it's a shame he won't tell her. He's such a nice kid. When Rose starts dating, I wish she'd go out with somebody like him." Oliver said. Lilly decided to see what was going on. "Is there a problem up there?" She shouted up the stairs. "No…no problem." Oliver shouted back down to her. "Anyway you where telling me what was wrong with you?" Jackson asked. "Oh…yeah… I think Lilly might be cheating on me." Oliver. "I would say you're wrong, cause you and Lilly are inseparable, but…" Jackson said. "But what?!?" Oliver demanded. "Well I've seen her with this other guy. You know how I've been helping out with summer school at her school? Well I've seen her meeting up with this guy after school for weeks now. She might be cheating with him." Jackson said. "Shoot… that's what I was afraid of." Oliver said. "Now don't get ahead of yourself. You might be jumping the gun a little here." Jackson said. Lilly called up again. "Are you sure there's not a problem? I don't hear anything happening." Lilly shouted up. "Yeah there's a big problem chica! You've…you…………………………….." Buzzzzzzzzzz. Jackson powered up his power saw and started kicking the door to make it sound like they were working on something. He was also affectively drowning out the obscenities he was sure Oliver was spewing at his wife. He stopped after half a minute. Oliver fell silent. "Chica?" Jackson asked in disbelief. "Yeah, I took Spanish in high school, it's the only word I remember. That and queso." Oliver said.

"I'm sure there's a better way to figure this out than what you where just doing Oliver." Jackson said. "Yeah. We'll I guess we'll never know what it is." Oliver said angrily. He shot down the stairs before Jackson could stop him. He ran right up to Lilly. "What's going on?" Lilly asked. "I'll tell you what's going on. You've been cheating on me and you've been found out! That's what's going on!" Oliver shouted. "What? No it isn't!" Lilly fired back. "Yes it is!" Oliver shouted. "No Oliver. What made you think this anyway?" Lilly asked. "I saw you with this…guy…Mister…Mister…Mister tall dark and…whatever." Oliver said, red in the face. He was mad, but he was also about to burst into tears. "Ohhh..no. I'm not… he's not. His name is Richard Alpert. He and Miley've been seeing each other for the last couple of weeks. And she wanted me to get to know him… you know, see if he's alright…make sure he's not another Jake Ryan. He's not. He's a really nice guy. Really down to earth, not like Jake at all. He's great for her." Lilly said. "Wait so you're not cheating on me then?" Oliver asked frantically. "No. Of course not. I love you Oliver. Only you. I would never do that to you. I never want to be with anybody but you…you're my Ollie…"Lilly was cut off. Oliver kissed her full on the mouth. "I love you so much Lilly. I knew you weren't. I'm sorry I doubted you." Oliver said. "I should have told you." Lilly said. "And I should have trusted you." Oliver said. "It's okay. We're fine." Lilly said. "Yeah, you're right. By the way Alex loves Rose." Oliver said. "Oh wow. How does she feel about that? I bet she's so happy." Lilly said. "That's the thing, he won't tell her. He's afraid it'll ruin their friendship, cause she likes another guy." Oliver said. "You mean Ben Linus?" Lilly said. "Yeah I guess. He didn't tell me a name." Oliver said. "You think we should tell her?" Lilly asked. "No. He made me promise not to tell. So don't tell her. That wouldn't be good." Oliver said. "Okay. I guess if he really does love her he'll eventually tell her, right?" Lilly asked.

_**Notes to the readers:**_

***Reviews are much appreciated!!**

_** This is the eleventh chapter of my saga "A New Life". If you haven't read my first saga you may not know where these characters are coming from. So you might want to read it, or at least "Meant to Be Parts 5-9". This story takes place before the end of "Meant To Be"._

_***Lilly and Oliver, and Miley and Jackson are in their thirties/forties. Jimmy is __**15**__. Rose is __**12 (thirteen by Ch.12)**__. Michael and Susan (Miley's daughter), and Robbie Rod (Jackson's son) are all __**10 (11 by Ch.12)**__._

_****If you want to find my other stories (My first saga) click on my screen name on the top of this page, and you can find my stories on my profile. If you want to stay updated as to when I post new chapters, please subscribe to my username!!_

_*****There will be more in the near future. So I hope you will continue reading. I have no idea how long this saga will last. I have ideas for many more chapters. So it will most likely be at least a little bit longer than "Meant to Be" probably quite a bit longer. Only time will tell._


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